What the back of the box says
What I thought
FBI agent Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) is sent to interview imprisoned killer Dr. Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lecter (Anthony Hopkins).  She hopes he might reveal information about another crazed killer know only as "Buffalo Bill," who is abducting young women, starving them, and then killing them.  Lecter's brilliant mind is intrigued by the beautiful Starling, and he begins to giving her mystifying clues which could be helpful or merely a game.  The terror builds as "Buffalo Bill" grabs another victim and the countdown to death begins again.  Finding the madman means Starling must get inside Lecter's mind.  To stop the killer, she must enter a terrifying race against death.
This movie is one of my all time favorites.  While the gore factor wasn't outrageously high, the thrill factor was earth shattering.  However, the movie did have it's gory parts.  Who could forget when Hannibal beat the cop to death with his own baton.  Or when Lector put the other cop's face on his own to escape.